Quite a few months ago I worked myself up into an absolute frenzy over Android, and the power of an Android based phone. Don’t get me wrong, the Android system can do great things, but there is one fundamental difference between Android and iOS that has made me rethink about the “power” that Android has offered me. These are my thoughts…
The amount of hype over Android is astounding, and it stands in good measure. Android can really do great things that iOS cannot do such as Tethering and enabling Flash (Don’t get me started, I despise flash anyway). I have read loads and loads of articles and the pro’s well and truly outweigh the cons of purchasing an Android over an iPhone. But not one of these articles gave me the answer that i have come to find for myself, the answer that ultimately lead me to switching back to iPhone. Anyways, 5 months ago I sold my iPhone 3Gs and bought the best Android i could find, The Samsung Galaxy S. Everyone was raving about it, it was the most popular Android based phone in Australia at the time and it still might be!
I was amazed at what the Android system could accomplish straight out of the box, I didn’t care that the system came with a whole bunch of bloatware from cellphone providers, and I didn’t mind that I had to read the entire book to understand how to use all of it’s amazing features, because after all, this phone is a lot more powerful than iPhone. The fact that I had to immediately install an Antivirus App just made me feel as though because it was so powerful, it needed protection just in case! I was stoked at how open and free the operating system was, the file management, task manager, the ability to change anything, I love power!
At the end of the day, Android did great things, but after carefully watching how i use my phone day to day, i discovered that i actually completed tasks slower, i spent more time waiting for things to load, and i had to use the task manager to close applications every 3 hours due to it becoming insanely laggy and unresponsive. Sometimes I had to actually reboot the phone which takes a while.
I know this will disappoint some people, but remember this is only one perspective of many. This article serves as a reference to my views, not to convince you of anything. Android is truly an amazing phone but there is just one thing that separates between iPhone and Android phones, and that one thing is called “readyness”.
By readyness, I mean that everything Apple creates, is “ready” for the technology that is available. Sure iPhone does not have complete multitasking support like Android does – But for good reason! The technology does not support it yet! The multitasking on an Android phone slowly but surely results in your phone behaving like a resource hog, fighting over memory, causing lag, slowly loading apps, and also decreasing battery life!
It is no secret that Apple craft all of their hardware to work in synergy with the software that they also develop. The software i am referring to in particular is iOS and the API that ultimately decides how far an App Developer can take their Apps. This one fundamental difference is what makes iOS have such a cult following in the first place.
Android on the other hand is open and allows it’s developers to create amazing things – and people will rave on about it – but that does not necessarily mean it is ready to be used with the hardware that is available. In all honesty, the fact that Android is distributed on completely random handsets with all different specifications, just hinders how easy it is to track these things.
Apple created the iOS to work in synergy with the iPhone hardware. They provide limits for a reason, it supports the “readyness” model. This is why i recently purchased an iPhone 4 and have jumped back on the Apple bandwagon!
Have you ever had the opportunity to try both mobile operating systems? What did you think? Maybe you went through the same stages that i have but ultimately liked Android? I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!
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Comments
Post a commentJosh Holloway(Jun 17th, 2011)
Last year I bought an iPhone 4, and I loved it. After using it for a few months, I decided to switch to Android because I was impressed with the “power” that you mention — there was a certain appeal to being able to do things that the iPhone will probably never be able to use.
The honeymoon didn’t last long with my Samsung Captivate, one of the top-of-the-line Android phones at the time. It was slow, buggy, and the GPS (one of my most-used features) was completely worthless. Samsung repeatedly said they would release software updates to fix these issues, but as months and deadlines passed, nothing changed.
After about six weeks, I had enough. I returned the phone to AT&T, got my money back, and went back to an iPhone. I don’t deny that Android has its strengths, but for me, those strengths were outweighed by the disadvantages of an unstable and fragmented platform.
Manuel Velazquez(Jun 17th, 2011)
I had and iPhone for a couple of years and last december I got the Galaxy S. I absolutely loved the iPhone, but there’s nothing that will make me leave Android now. Maybe the OS version I got on my SGS was higher than what you had in yours, but I havent experienced the problems you mention, not yet anyway.
I am the kind of user that loves to fiddle with gadgets, customize it, tweak every part of it until it is the way I like it. With the iPhone, theres a limited number of things you can change, and those that you can’t change work well enough. The Android… well thats another story.
If you are a geek like me then you will love the power Android gives you, and if you are a daring user you can do wonders! My phone was fast and responsive since the day I got it, but once I went to the forums and started changing things it became 10 times better. The Android user community works really hard to improve the OS, the custom roms you can find are awesome! That level of involvement doesn’t happen with the iPhone unfortunately.
I don’t want to sound like a fanboy, because I really like both platforms, but at this particular point in time i like Androind a bit more.
tom(Jun 17th, 2011)
For me it was the other way around i went from an iphone 3g due to the issues of lag and crash several times a day. I got an htc desire never had any issues works 3x faster no issues with crashing nothing. But each to there own, i love the feature that if i upgrade all i have to do is sign into google on the new phone all my apps, contacts everything get sent to the new phone..
admin(Jun 17th, 2011)
@Josh – The GPS was one thing i was actually impressed with on the Galaxy S compared to the iPhone 4, i had always said google should make GPS because the street search, streetview, and always up to date maps smash other GPS companies into the ground, sadly, google GPS on a Samsung Galaxy S has a very slow refresh rate and i can’t use it while driving.
@Manuel – The customization is great to begin with, but i got sick of having to constantly be customizing my Android, the iPhone just worked straight “out of the box” and sure it lacks in a few (not at all limiting) features, but it just simply works.
@tom – The iPhone 3G is ancient in terms with the HTC Desire. Also, iTunes can sync everything when you change phones too
MrLemon(Jun 18th, 2011)
You talk about readiness, but with apple that only applies to the newest hardware. The new ios updates have ruined my ipod touch. Its slow, slow, and slow. The browser crashes, and once in a while I get apps that hang. Apple has crippled my 2nd gen touch on propose. I mean to really be ready, ios 4+ needs the latest hardware.
Don’t get me started on the latest safari browser security updates that only work on newer phones. You want security on a 3G, best is to turn it off and use it to hold down paper.
The “fragmentation” of the android OS is unfortunate, but google is fixing that with newer versions. The samsung is great hardware, but they screwed around with the os a little to much.
Using both os’s I do find android is better at things like web browsing, always seems to take to long to get web pages on the touch. I also other the swype keyboard way more then the IOS keyboard, so much faster.
In a year android will be the better system and apple will need to provide much better hardware to stay competitive. Its not IOS versus Android, its apple versus every android hardware maker.
Daquan Wright(Aug 30th, 2011)
Wow, this is of particular interest to me!
I’m going to buy a Motorola Xoom (maybe Tegra 2 version) in the near future and I was debating whether to get iPad/Xoom. I go to websites that use flash video…so my viewing experience would be quite limited on that end. I love the customization the Xoom gives you and the fact that it’s an open platform. I expect great things from the Honeycomb OS, a product Google makes is something I can believe in (as I could for Apple, both are great companies).
I’m also contemplating learning mobile app development (primarily web apps, but down the line maybe native apps as well).
This is very important for me, I guess I better hang on to my receipt in case I don’t like Xoom and want to switch over to iPad? lol
I can’t wait to get into one of these mobile platforms, eventually I’ll get an iPhone. With a smartphone, tablet, desktop….I can test my apps in all devices and ensure the ux is decent.
admin(Aug 30th, 2011)
@Daquan – If you didn’t want to go the Apple way, i would definately recommend the Xoom above most other tablets, just as i would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S 2 over other non-Apple smartphones. Both of which i have used, but still prefer Apple products.
Let me know what you end up doing!